The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1887-09-23
Battle of ChiCkamauga.

strength OF their respective armies
and each claimed that he fought su
perior numbers. There is, however
no reason to doubt that Gen. Bragg
army was the larger.
| Gen. Bragg had on the field clever
divisions of infantry and four of cav
airy, comprising thirty-fve brigades
of infantry and ten or twelve Of cav.
airy. The reported aggregate strength
of five divisions Of the former, of three
brigades each, was twenty-four thou
fsand one hundred men, an average OF
sixteen hundred and six to each brig
ade. Giving this strength to the re.
naming twenty bri igades of infantry
would make an infantry aggregate Of
fifty-six thousand two hundred and
ten. The reports Of the General Off
GERS Of the cavalry are too indefinite
to furnish basis for an approximate
estimate of the strength Of that arm.
1t is highly probable, however, that
the four divisions comprised about
fifteen thousand men.
General Rosecrans had in the action
thirty brigades of infantry, five of
cavalry, one of mounted infantry, and
thirty-three batteries. In all, he had
one hundred and thirty-fve regiments
of infantry, twenty-one Of cavalry,
and five Of mounted infantry. The
average of fifteen brigades of infant
ry whose strength was reported, rep
resenting the four corps, was fifteen
fifteen hundred and sixty men. If
this should be accepted as the average
strength of brigades throughout the
army, its aggregate was fifty-six thou
sand one hundred and sixty men. 1t
may then be assumed that General
Bragg's army was superior by twelve
or fifteen thousand men.
During the afternoon of the Goth,
General Bragg must have had more
than double as many men as General
Thomas. He employed all his in
fantry and five or six brigades Of cav
airy, and large portion Of the latter
army was fought as infantry. General
Thomas had about eighteen brigades
of infantry, exclusive of Col. Daniel
McCook's brigade, which resisted the
rebel cavalry on the right flank of the
Confederate army on the road to Ross
vile, and formed no part of the battle
front. All but two of his brigades
had been greatly reduced by hard
fighting for day and a half, and
could not have averaged more than
one thausand men. His force then
did not, on his final line, probably ex-
ceed twenty thousand men, allowing
four thousand to General Steedman's 8
two fresh brigades.
AS the statement appears in many
histories of the war, and even in some
of recent publication, that General
Thomas with his single corps saved
the army at Chickamauga, it is i'm
pei ative to refute this error, as it does
great Injustice to the officers and men
and men of the other corps. The pre-
ceding narrative gives an indirect ref
utation, but this prevalent mistake
should be explicitly corrected. Gen.
erals Crittenden and McCook had each
eight brigades on the field, and Gen
eral Granger had three. And of these
nineteen brigades, twelve were with
General Thomas in the final conflict.
Five brigades of McCook's corps were
cut off ON the right, but not more than
two from Crittenden's, counting frag-
ments. Palmer's division of Critten-
denis corps, and Johnson's from Nc
Cooks, were with General Thomas
throughout the battle, and General
Wooe of the former corps, with two
brigades Of his own division and one
from Van Cleve's, went to him on the
second day. Changers three large
brigades constituted nearly one-fourth
Of the entire force on the final line.
More men left the field from General
Thomas own corps, the Fourteenth,
than from General Crittenden's. Four
regiments of Wildel's brigade of Rey-
nolds' division were on the right of
the breach; large portion, more than
moiety, of Negley's division was led
Or driven from the field (Beatty's brig
ade. through the emergencies of bat
tie and General Negley's adjutant-gen-
eral, joined the divisions on the right,
and at night were found by General
Beatty, at Rossville), and Brannan
lost portion Of one of his brigades
through orders Of General who left
the field before the final crisis of the
the battle. The glory of the final
conflict is then the common inherit
ance of the army, as it was won by
the valor of troops ting the